Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-12-24

her to the bottom like piece Of lead 1t re
luired no small courage 20 face those timbers
and the waves sweeping across the deck to-
gether, but no one heSitated. Peter johann
sen, a stout young fellow from Norway, was
struck on the right leg By one of the spars
and disabled so that he had to be carried into
the cabin, but the rest of the men, with a few
slight mishaps, managed to lash the spars
securely and get back to the quarter deck.
In the meantime the watsr had gained in
the hold and the vessel was getting strong
list to starboard, so Capt. Maier set about to
get her on the other tack With the aid of
the jibs and by watching the sea, they man.
aged to wear her around, her head then being
to northwaI-i and eastward, but she still held
her list to starboard After this the men did
such work at the pumps as they could, every
man, including the captain, but excepting
the wounded one, taking his turn regularly.
Saturday morning found the gale undated,
and the ships deck much nearer the water
than it had been the night before. It was
plain that she was slowly filing and settling
into the sea. The men asked the captain,
after they had again been served with brandy
and cold meat and bread, to get out the boats
There had been three of these, but one that
had been dashed on the main hatch had been
crushed and swept overheard by the waves
that destroyed the bulwarks Two remained.
They were dashed bottom up on top of the
forward house. One was ships long boat,
sharp at both ends 1t was about 26 feet long,
and very deep and broad in proportion; the
other was a big East India teak built yawl,
% feet long, 5 broad and deep. The captain
did not like at first to get the boats over
board but by $50 consented that it should
be done, and gave orders that provisions for
them should be got up. As the ship was not
making any Roadway, the men rugged heavy
plank from the top of the house to the lee
rail, and then, with the help OF. small tackle
rugged from the foretop, turned them keel
down, and slid first the smaller and then the
larger boat overheard Both boats shipped
lot of water when dropped over but man
got into each and bailed it out The larger
boat unfortunately struck its bow against
the vessels side and broke its stem, but the
damage did not prove fatal to it. A long
painter was made fast to each, and both rode
safely at quite distance to the lee Of thf
vessel.
Meantime the captain and second ms5e,
Paul Feldthohn, had gone down into the
after part of the hold OF the vessel t. see
what the condition of affairs was there. As
the boats were got fairly clear of the chip the
two officers came hastily on deck again.
Capt Maier said that the strain of the star
board mizzen rigging had started a plank,
and that the water was pouring in through
the hold in floods. 1t was necessary to hasten
into the boats as the ship could not float
much longer.
1t was now o'clock of Saturday after
noon 4 supply of food and keg Of water
had been got up, but sea swept them away.
A bag holding fifty or sixty pounds of sea
bread and two small hams were now brought
UP, besides more water The bread and the
two hams were got into the big boat, but the
water was washed away. Then four men
were put into each of the boats, including
Peter Johansen, the wounded man, who was
lowered into the smaller boat. He had heard
the launching of the boats and had crawled
out of the cabin on his hands and knees.
Before any more of the men could get from
the ship to the boats hugo roller was seen
coming, and all of them rushed to the after
house, where they clutched hold Of whatever
they could get their hands on and held on for
dear life while the wave swept over them.
The seven men included the captain, his two
wave left them all ON the ship unhurt, and
all made a start for the boats again, not
noticing a second and larger roller than the
one that had just passed. The men in the
boat yelled to those on deck, and then saw
them making a wild rush for shelter again,
but it was too late. The solid wave swept
across the deck, and when the water had sub
sided but two remained in sight, the second
To ND bo ooh hnu VIII ha6 MAJ rad
to clutch stanchions near the cabin. The
same wave broke the boats adrift from the
ship minute later the mate was seen
living across the top of the. wheel house, that
had been broken from its fastenings and
swept overheard by the last wave. Then a
russian Finn was seen to rise up out of the
water and strike out for the ship instead of
che boats. At the same moment the second
mate, seeing that the ship was going down,
motioned TO the cabin boy and the two made
a flying leap into the water and swan toward
.he small boat. Then another man was seen
coming to the surface, when, after getting
:he water from his eyes, he saw the big boat
was nearer to him than the other, and swan
toward it, He was eventually picked up.
Nothing was seen of the captain after the
.econd roller buried him. He was heavily
surface after going down The men in the
big boat began pulling toward the mate,
while the smaller ono was rowed toward the
second mate and the cabin boy They were
both good swimmers and were soon alongside.
The boy was dragged in first. They had
yelled to the Finn to swim toward the small
boat, but he did not notice them AS the
second mate got his hands on the gunwale Of
the small boat and those in it were reaching
for him he turned to look at the ship. The
sight made him say, "See, seel" The stern
had failed to rise to a wave and plunging
under it had raised the bow high out of water.
For a moment she hung on the surface of the
water, shaking her bowsprit from the effect
of the wave as some big marine animal might
shake its nose in play, and then she sank
down in the swirling foam. The Finn, seeing
his danger, turned and struggled to get away,
but the suction OF the sinking ship had
caught him. AS the hull disappeared he
threw I'D his arms and without q cry sank